Center for Rural Affairs releases 2018 farm bill platform

On Friday, the Center for Rural Affairs released its 2018 farm bill policy platform, “A Farm Bill for Rural America.”

Written by Anna Johnson, policy associate, and Rural Policy Program staff, the platform reflects more than 40 years of on-the-ground work by center staff, and input from farmers and ranchers across the country.

“We need a farm bill which helps rural America,” Johnson said. “While a great deal of this work is done on the ground and in communities, the overarching influence of the farm bill on every facet of this work cannot be ignored.”

“The center’s farm bill priorities continue our decades-long work of addressing the real needs of rural communities,” said Johnson. “These proposals will support family farms. They will preserve natural resources for our children and grandchildren. They will create opportunity for the next generation of beginning farmers. They will foster rural economic opportunity. Congress has a responsibility to serve rural citizens through the farm bill, and these proposals offer a path for them to do so.”

The current farm bill expires on Sept. 30, 2018.

To download the platform, visit www.cfra.org/publications/2018FarmBillPlatform. For more information, contact Johnson at annaj@cfra.org.

Established in 1973, the Center for Rural Affairs is a private, non-profit organization working to strengthen small businesses, family farms and ranches, and rural communities through action oriented programs addressing social, economic, and environmental issues.